


Every Sixth Hour

by Angelicat2



Series: Sheith Month 2019 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angry Shiro (Voltron), Canonical Character Death, Day 3-24 Hours, Flashbacks, Hurt Keith (Voltron), M/M, Now I propose being body-controlled, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Rape/Non-con Elements, Sadistic Sendak, Season/Series 07, Semi-Public Sex, Sheith Month 2019, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Torture, You've heard of being mind-controlled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 11:41:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19463245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: Earth wants to give up the lions. Admiral Sanda finds out Keith is half Galra, taking this information to Sendak who uses it to his advantage, giving Shiro and the coalition twenty-four hours to give up or the paladins all die. Meanwhile, he hurts Keith every six hours until then.





	Every Sixth Hour

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind of the tags. This is a bit darker than the other fics I've written so far, but the non-con isn't between Shiro and Keith at all. Those two are in love and loving towards each other. :)
> 
> Enjoy!

“They want Voltron,” Keith listened as the Admiral stared at them, “We should just give it to them.”

“We are not giving up Voltron,” Allura spoke as she glared at the woman, “We won't.”

“The universe needs Voltron,” Shiro exclaimed as the woman frowned.

“Earth needs Voltron more,” she responded, “We need to give it over to them. To protect Earth.”

“That's not going to work,” Keith sighed as he spoke up, all eyes going to him, “The Empire will just destroy everyone anyway. Giving them Voltron is not an opinion.”

“But-" another man sputtered as he was interrupted by the older silver-haired man.

“Most Galra do not care about other species,” Shiro warned as he placed his single hand on his hip, “You can give up Voltron, but they'll still go after everyone. Especially Sendak.”

“Most?” The same man from before asked with doubt in his voice, “It seems as if all are bad.”

“Not all of us,” Keith confessed before some gasps flew around the courtyard. He had expected them to react this way.

“You're Galra!” Admiral Sanda demanded as she glared at Keith who just blinked, “We cannot afford to trust the Galra. Not after what they have put us through the past three years.”

“Yet you want to turn Voltron over to them?” Sam Holt asked as he stared her down, “There are good Galra like Keith, but Sendak is not one of them.”

“Give us more time,” Shiro muttered before he moved forward a step, “We'll help save Earth, but we'll need time.”

“Alright,” she finally agreed before her cool eyes targeted Keith with a glare that screamed if anything happened, it would be Keith's fault. Her glare wasn't the only one as many of the others joined in. Only his team, Romelle, Coran, Sam, and Iverson seemed to not be giving him distrusting or unsure glances. And Shiro, of course. He was glad he had them on his side. His friends.

“Alright,” Shiro spoke as he gazed back over the group, eyes lingering on the raven-haired man for moments longer than the others, “We'll get started now.”

…..

Keith woke up slowly. He was on his stomach, vision blurry around the edges as he heard someone talking. Glancing left, he blinked before everything settled a little. He saw his team scattered across the room near the people talking, all knocked out. Keith tuned on to the voices before he nearly hissed.

Sendak.

And Admiral Sanda.

“Take them to the brink,” the large Galra stated as the admiral scowled angrily, “And keep the red one behind here. I think I'll have a surprise for the Champion in a little.”

“No!” The admiral shouted as a Galra grabbed her arm, “We had a deal! Let them go!”

“No,” Sendak smirked wickedly as Keith's vision started to fade, “Your information has been very useful. Take them away.”

He saw them starting to drag the unconscious paladins away. As Keith's senses failed him completely, he felt something big grab him by his chest. Everything faded into black. 

…..

“Commander!” Shiro heard someone shout from within the room, “There's an incoming message.”

“Open the channel,” Shiro waited a moment before a screen showed up with Sendak on it, smiling with sharp teeth, “Sendak. What have you done with the paladins?”

“They're safe for the time being,” he chuckled as Shiro glared, “But the Black Lion’s pilot is not.”

Shiro stared in horror as the large Galra's hand floated into view, Keith in its hold. The smaller paladin was unconscious, limbs and head hanging loosely, hair curtaining his face. His helmet was gone, nowhere in sight. Several gasps rang out as everyone froze.

“I know what you care about,” Sendak chucked deeply, chilling Shiro down to the bone, “I could go after the people of your planet, but it seems I don't have to. Such a weakness.”

Sendak's arm floated up a little as claws scratches dents into white and red armor. Keith grunted a little at the increasing pressure. 

“Sendak!”

The hand stopped as the Galra's smirk widened.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to watch him suffer,” he smirked wickedly as Shiro's stomach flipped, “Victory or death.”

And then the man was jamming a syringe into Keith's neck. His best friend stay limp except for a tiny flinch. Sendak chuckled darkly as he lowered the other against the wall. Before he could blink, the much larger man was placing a collar on Keith's neck. A chain connected it to the wall.

"What in the sam hill was in that!" Iverson asked from his counsel. Shiro heard it just as Sendak did too. The alien smirked wickedly.

"Well, it was a special little treat we have just for him. After we got some _inside information_ from your Admiral, I decided to use the mix we made just for halfbreeds like him. He has a place, and that is much below us, Galra and your species. Now, I just need to make sure it works."

The bigger Galra turned towards Keith who was beginning to wake up, a tiny grumble leaving his lips. The man waited as Keith opened his eyes, squinting up at the bigger. 

"Halfbreed, kneel,” he demanded, eyes staring straight at the younger. Keith scowled at him with defiance in his eyes before his legs shifted. Shiro went cold as Keith gasped softly, body moving on its own as if he was no longer in control. Something in Shiro’s brain screamed at him. He had been through something like that before...somewhere…

He knew he had…

“That’s right,” Sendak chuckled darkly as he smirked, teeth sharp, “He has no control of his body. Even better, his mind to completely free, so he is very aware of all of this.”

“Leave them alone, Sendak,” Keith growled as he glared at the bigger man who only chuckled harder, “What are you laughing about?”

“I have control of your body, halfbreed,” the man’s arm drifted to his best friend, tilting his chin up as dark violet eyes glared, “I can make you do anything. Should I start with your paladins. What fun that would be? If I remember correctly, it was Emperor Zarkon, the previous Black Paladin, who got rid of the Red Paladin. Should we repeat history? Or you could chop up the little green one? You probably inherited some Galra strength in there somewhere...you could use it on the yellow one, bash his brains in. And the princess...I bet she would look stunning covered in red.”

“Don’t touch them,” Keith growled deeper, eyes taking on a semi-animalistic shine as he tried unsuccessfully to lunge forward, “If you do-”

“I’m not worried about you. You’re no threat to me.” Sendak snickered as he tilted Keith’s head even further up until the man’s head was almost straight up, “You are a pretty half breed, I’ll give you that. If only you had been caught sooner, you could have been my personal bed warmer. I’m sure Zarkon would have let me have you. The one who pushed Lotor to fall. You did me a favor, I guess.”

Keith growled, trying to bite at the hand, regardless of the fact that it was metal. He didn’t get far, only enough to show off his teeth before the other pressed tightly on his throat, forcing him to stop.

“Fierce, no wonder you were the Red Lion’s paladin first,” Sendak clenched his claws to Keith’s jaw, wrenching his mouth open as Keith glared still, “So much fire. An admirable trait among the Galra. It’s too bad a half-breed possesses such. I think I’m going to have fun breaking you.”

Shiro grew cold. No. Sendak...He couldn't touch Keith. It was bad enough what he did to Shiro when he was a prisoner. He could feel the scars his other body had been loaded with, ones carved into his flesh from that monster. But to hurt Keith that way...

"Oh, Champion," the man smirked as he ran a mechanical finger over Keith's face, from his eyebrow to his lips, "You look like you've seen a ghost. Remembering all of our fun times? You always were my favorite fighter. A shame I never got to have you, but I'm sure your paladin here will more than make up for it. He's so tiny, I'm thinking he's going to split in half when I'm done with him."

"What do you want?" Shiro practically begged as the Galra grinned. He hoped the man gave him an honest answer. 

"I want your resistance to give up," Sendak gripped Keith's head causing the younger to hiss in slight pain, "You have what you humans say...24 hours to give up all your resisting forces, including the rebels and coalition troops. If you don't, each paladin will be slaughtered by then."

The crew gasped in shock and fear. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Iverson, Veronica, and Coran shooting him looks. Shiro glared at the Galra, knowing he was going to say something else.

"To make it more interesting," he cackled as he yanked a little on the chain connected to the collar on Keith, making the younger gag a bit at the sudden pressure, "Every so often that goes by without all forces surrendering, the halfbreed gets hurt a little more. Your decision, Champion."

And then the screen went black.

…..

They had six hours left.

Six hours until the paladins were killed. Shiro rubbed his hand over his face as he inspected a map of the ship. It looked just like any other Galra warship Shiro could remember. The layout was simple but confusing for those who didn’t know it by heart. He could guess that Keith probably knew it from his time as a full-time Mamora agent, but not the others. If he went in through the front entrance, Sendak would see him. If he went in the back, it could work...but they had to get the ship to stop running first. If something were to go wrong, they could prevent it from going into hyperdrive and getting away. And the ground would also be closer for any EMTs to get the injured out of there. 

Shiro gritted his teeth. Keith was going to need one for sure. Sendak hadn’t lied about hurting him every so often. So far, he had called in two other times, each after exactly six hours. If that keeps up, the third call should be soon. 

The first call had been some type of gas that they had Keith breathe in. It had induced a lot of nightmares, making Keith panic and thrash about. By the time the video had been cut off, Keith was staring glassy-eyed to the corner of the room like he was seeing something but not there with them. 

The second call...Shiro cringed as he felt his fist tremble. Keith had been forced to hurt an innocent human child. Shiro felt sick as he remembered the look on Keith’s face after that. Keith was compassionate for others, always wanting to help regardless of their background and race. Shiro is sure he helped stoke that fire in Keith when he helped a teen who had stolen his car, giving him another chance when no one else ever had.

In all honesty, the video reminded him too much of his time as an arena fighter. He had been forced to kill innocent people there. The Galra had been bloodthirsty, wanting a bloodbath and they got it from their prisoners. Shiro...Shiro had never ever wanted Keith to experience anything like that. Keith wasn’t naive. Keith was an adult. Keith had survived in the middle of a war, often in the front lines where action happened and comrades got killed. And he has, of course, killed enemy soldiers when it came down to it. When it came down to taking a life to save your own or another’s.

But Keith had never had to harm someone not out to harm him. Shiro knew how much it killed inside to do something like that, and he hated it. He could still remember the blood on his hands as he tore apart the people he faced. How some screamed in fear while others just accepted it. How some died instantly and others took hours to fully bleed out...to finally be free.

“Captain,” someone interrupted him as he glanced up from his map. It was Veronica, sending him a knowing frown, one he grew defeated at, “It’s time.”

“Thanks,” Shiro grimaced as he stood, bracing himself for another round of whatever Sendak had planned. Shiro knew they couldn’t give up their forces. Keith wouldn’t want that, even at the cost of his life, and Shiro knew the moment they gave up, the paladins would be killed anyway. That’s how Sendak worked. If he had been willing to take out a whole planet to get some lions, he was going to get rid of the paladins...his team...his friends...his family...his best friend...his love.

“I can’t say I know exactly what you’re feeling,” she smiled at him softly, in a way that reminded him of Lance as she placed her hand on his elbow gently, “Lance is only my brother and they aren’t torturing him, but...I know that he’ll make it. I’ve heard some things from Lance and Allura about Keith...He’ll make it.”

“I…” Shiro let out a deep breath before grinning back weakly at her, “Thank you. You’re right. Keith’s...Keith’s much stronger than he seems.”

Just like at his trials. Keith had fought for two days, tirelessly as he fought Blade after Blade. Then he fought the clone and Lotor in one day. 

Keith could make it. He’d be okay, eventually. 

They both made it to the bridge in time for the feed to cut on. Sendak was standing there with Keith just in front of him. The younger was glaring back at the other, biting his lip. The bigger Galra just smirked before tugging on the chain in his hand.

“We have a show for you, Champion,” the man grinned wickedly as his wrapped his arm around Keith, using his flesh hand to hold onto Keith’s jaw, “The witch had some of your memories stored before your...untimely demise, and I caught a glimpse of some. Your universe revolves around one little halfbreed. It’s funny that he was in almost every memory. Your feelings will be your downfall.”

Keith started to laugh softly. Sendak glared at him, eyes narrowing with anger at being pushed aside like that.

“What’s so funny, halfbreed?”

“Nothing,” Keith settled down before he glanced at the camera and back, “But that witch has already tried that. She failed.”

_“The Red Paladin’s connection to you runs deep. Deeper than the others.”_

“We’ll see about that,” Sendak smirked as he let go of Keith. Taking a step back, he stared back at the camera, “Champion...Are your forces ready to surrender to me?”

Shiro didn’t answer, but that was enough for Sendak to take it as a ‘no.’ The man laughed before his mechanical arm pulled on the chain. Keith stumbled forward at the hard force before he caught himself, balancing himself. Shiro almost growled as Sendak hooked the chain up to the floor, leaving plenty of chain, even though he knew Keith wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. He was taunting them all.

“Remove your armor,” Sendak ordered to Keith who once again tried to resist what his body was being told. Limbs shaky, Keith began to take off the white and red armor. Shiro was shocked that Sendak didn’t get frustrated at how slow Keith was going, but then he realized that Sendak wanted it that way. Every piece of armor that came off had Sendak grinning a little wider. When Keith got to the knee armor, Sendak made him pause, “Hm...We can leave that on. It won’t get in the way.”

Keith’s arms dropped as his body waited for another command. Shiro braced himself on the counter in front of him. Both his fists bunched onto the light white metal.

“Remove the undersuit to the knees,” Sendak smirked as Keith sent him a deep glare. As Keith began to unlatch the suit on the back, the larger looked over at the camera, “How far will this go, Champion? Will you give up the resistance to save him?”

“Don’t do it, Shiro,” Keith stated as he brought the right shoulder of the suit off, showing the wicked shoulder scar he had gotten years ago in the trials. More of the suit was pulled off until both shoulders were on display. If the situation was less dire, Shiro would be drooling by now at the sight of the younger’s collarbones and strong yet lean shoulders. Keith and he had gotten close while on the journey back to Earth, but neither had taken off their clothes around each other.

That made this even worse.

Before he knew it, the black material was down to Keith’s hips, just where the white belt used to be. Already he could see the thin trail of hair that dipped lower. Some small scars littered his flesh from what Shiro had to guess were training too much. Shiro also winced at the few on his best friend that he vaguely recognized from his clone. Keith didn’t seem ashamed of the fact that he was about to be showing off certain areas soon. Maybe it was because he had been on a space whale with his mother for a whole two years or that he had been around the other Blades for quite some time that he got over being worried about showing off his parts. Shiro frowned as the younger stripped the outfit down to the knees just like Sendak had wanted. 

Most of the crew were trying to ignore looking anywhere sensitive. Shiro was grateful to them for trying as he glared at the Galra who simply smirked back. 

“Halfbreed, kneel,” the man ordered as Keith knelt down, padded knees to the floor. Before their eyes, the Galra removed just the front patch of his suit, exposing himself to the group. Shiro couldn’t glance away even though he knew what was going to happen. He had no doubt that most of the others were, but no one left the room. 

Keith seemed to have some control of his body, if not directly instructed to do something because he shifted forward, so that they could no longer see his face or front. Sendak didn’t seem to care that much as he stepped forward. The man knelt down much like Keith had, but he obviously had control, which Shiro was deeply resenting right now. He should be over there, protecting Keith from this...not standing here doing nothing. 

“Going to give up, Champion?” The large man asked as Shiro glared, “I’ll take that as a ‘no.’ How fortunate on my end.”

And like that, he was already lining himself up to Keith. Shiro growled as he saw Keith flinch at the contact. Sendak was huge, and he hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he could split the younger in half. A few seconds passed as Shiro realized that Sendak was really going to be sadistic.

“At least make it a little easier for Keith,” Shiro demanded as Keith whimpered slightly. The older clenched his fist so hard that he was shocked the panel before him didn’t crack. As it was, his mechanical hand whirred as he pressed it down.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Sendak laughed wickedly as he slid in a little more, making Keith make another sound that broke Shiro’s heart. Although he couldn’t see Keith’s face, he knew it had to hurt. It was going to hurt even more, going in dry like that. But the other clearly didn’t care as he pushed further in, letting out a groan.

“So tiny, so tight,” he snickered as he gripped the paladin by the chin with his flesh hand, making Keith stare up at the camera, “But you really should look at the camera. Wouldn’t want your Champion to miss this.”

As Keith gazed upward, Shiro could see a spark of fire fly to his face. Keith glanced over at the hand before his eyes followed the limb, snapping forward as Sendak pressed all the way to him, skin against skin. As the older pulled back a bit, moaning slightly, Keith growled. It was something lower than normal, just as his eyes skated on the edge of glowing yellow. Fangs transformed and Keith bit at the Galra’s hand, ripping into thick fingers like a shark into a fish. Sendak released a loud shout of pain before he tried to yank his hand out of the younger’s grip. Keith held on tightly as flesh tore. Almost ten seconds passed before the man finally ripped the digits free, blood dripping to the floor in small splashes.

“You’ve done it now, halfbreed,” the Galra hissed as he snapped his hips forward roughly, pressing the smaller to the floor. Keith choked on a scream as the other thrust his hips again. Shiro could feel bile rise in his throat at the display, forcing himself to not shout out as Sendak slammed his hips down repeatedly. Keith was trying to hold in his pain, not wanting to give the other the satisfaction of showing his pain. But slowly, Shiro could see him cracking. All too soon. Keith was crying out softly at every thrust and snap. Shiro didn’t have to look around him to know that many of the crew were plugging their ears and trying unsuccessfully to pretend this wasn’t happening. Trying so hard to believe that one of their commanders...That the leader of Voltron wasn’t getting raped right in front of them.

Shiro was so glad the rest of the crew wasn’t in the camera’s angle. As if was, he could hear someone throwing up in the background, but luckily, they were doing so in a garbage can off to the side where hardly anyone could hear them. A quick glance revealed plenty of other pale-faced members. Iverson looked disgruntled in a way that Shiro knew meant he was on much better terms with Keith and hated to see him hurt like this. Veronica was shaking slightly, probably attempting to stop herself from thinking about if it had been her younger brother up there instead. Coran’s face was settled into a startling glare, one that Shiro was glad to find on the Altean since he had known Keith for so long while they were all out in space.

“You’re in that traitorous group, I hear,” Sendak growled as he slammed his hips up. Keith made a noise that was a bit different than before, more a gasp than anything, so the Galra snickered again, “The Blade of Marmora. I’ve heard about them. Trained fighters, not to be underestimated. A bunch of cowards looking for peace. Not true Galra. They even accepted a hybrid like you. I wonder why.”

“Be-cau...se I’m Ga-galra,” Keith hissed back unevenly, glaring at the other, which Shiro could see even at this angle, “W-we’re fi-f’xing the me-ess m-made.”

“There’s no mess,” Sendak smirked as he pounded down onto Keith again. Shiro was close to hurling his arm through the screen, although it wouldn’t do anything other than go right through. The older Galra moaned again as he rolled his hips, “I serve the Empire, which you destroyed. You and the Champion took out my emperor. This war is justified.”

Shiro growled as his fists shook. Skin slapped against skin as Sendak yanked Keith’s head back by his bangs, holding down on his back so he couldn’t go anywhere. 

“Have fun, halfbreed,” the man grinned before he snapped his hips down harder than before. A loud pop filled the air as Keith released a shaky scream of agony that no doubt echoed throughout the whole ship. Seconds later, the Galra tipped over the edge, clamping his large mechanical hand down harder on Keith’s hair, holding him harshly to the floor, pressing his face right into the surface as a long, drawn-out moan left his lips. Keith stopped moving, obviously in too much pain to do so as the Galra pulled out, dripping enough to leave a large mess on the floor right behind Keith. The younger collapsed, whining when his leg moved. 

“He’s going to be sore,” the bigger smirked as he covered up, standing above Keith who only tried to curl up only to not do so as his leg twitched. The Galra brushed a hand over Keith’s throat, feeling right on the collar with a small huff, hand still bleeding. Some of the droplets landed on Keith, sliding down his neck, “It’s a shame really that he’s not going to be in prime physical condition for his execution, but it was fun while it lasted.”

The man began to walk away.

“Aren’t-” Someone on the bridge with Shiro protested as the Galra paused, “Aren’t you going to clean him up?”

“No,” the man smirked as his mechanical hand fluttered over the other who was panting and shaking a bit, “He’ll stay like that. After all, why should I clean up someone who’s about to die? I’ll leave him on screen for a bit, Champion. Six hours.”

And like that, he was gone. The only thing that they could hear was Keith’s quick pants. Already bruises were forming on the younger's hips and butt, coloring his abused flesh scarlet and violet. His hip was swollen slightly, left leg at a strange angle, pointing inward. Likely dislocated.

“Keith,” Shiro spoke softly, getting a small shiver from the other who settled down enough to breathe correctly again, “Keith. We’ll get you out, okay? You’re going to be okay. Just hold on.”

Keith didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to as he shook his head, twisting onto his right side. He whimpered softly as he pushed his hip out in front of him, curling his other leg to his chest to hide anything from sight.

“Sh’ro,” Keith muttered, pain laced into his voice as he buried his head into his arms, "Hurts…"

"I know," Shiro spoke softly as he felt tears blur his eyes, "I'm coming to get you."

"'Kay," Keith nodded slightly before huffing out slowly, barely twitching, "Careful?"

"I will be," Shiro smiled back before he turned back to the people in the room. Each gave him a nod, recognizing that Shiro was going to go on that ship himself. Shiro had to. His plan would work, but he'd run it over with some of the others. For now, he watched as the screen turned to black, fading out.

…..

Sneaking aboard the ship wasn't hard. Shiro got in easily once they figured out to shoot him up there with the help of one of the MFEs. Shiro just had to sneak up to the power generator, letting Sam hijack his brain to cut the power. It hurt quite a bit, but Shiro couldn't help the laugh of vindication at the reverse of what had once been the takeover of the castle all those years ago.

Racing to the room that held Keith, he just cleared the doorway when he caught a glimpse of Keith who was laying on the floor, now dressed back up in his armor and suit. Keith glanced up before his eyes went wide. Shiro didn’t have time to register his scratchy shout before something slammed into his back, throwing him across the room, closer to Keith. Shiro smashed into the wall with a small cry, lucky that his armor blocked most of the impact. As it was, a large crack was bent into the dark wall.

“Shiro!”

Shiro moved just in time to avoid the large arm that smashed into the floor behind him. Standing up, he glared at Sendak who smirked from the doorway.

“The Black Paladin has been waiting for you,” the man’s arm floated back to his side, blocking the doorway, “I was wondering if you’ve been hiding your instincts from the arena in there somewhere.”

Shiro gritted his teeth. Beside him, Keith groaned softly as he tried to get up, falling over in the last second, too weak to go anywhere. Shiro could see something move out of the corner of his eye, so he threw up his arm. Sendak’s arm cast sparks into the air as both collided in front of Keith who flinched at the sound.

“Leave him alone, Sendak,” Shiro snarled out as he threw his arm right at the man, hitting him on the cheek and forcing him back a step, “Your fight is with me.”

“I think I won’t,” the Galra smirked as he wiped his flesh hand across his mouth, smearing a bit of blood from his cut lip, “I’m tempted to keep him, you know? The rest of the paladins...they’ll be dead soon. But this half breed has spirit, more than you did, Champion.”

Shiro’s fists shook as the larger smirked wider.

“You probably remember your time. The Champion in his prime, unable to be defeated. Haggar’s personal experiment.”

Shiro grunted. Scenes flashed before his eyes.

A medbay, cloaked in darkness. Him screaming as his arm was removed. The prosthetic that was left in place right after. Years later, waking to the same type of room, lights bright and people touching and poking and putting things on him and in him and there were needles that injected stuff. And then suddenly, he was in an empty ship, weak and tired and ready to give up and never get back home. 

Except…

Except that he had to get back to his team. To his family.

Back to Keith, who was bound to be dying searching for him. Keith was loyal like that, going as far as to ignore his own needs for those who showed him any bit of patience and love. Shiro knew he had to get back to him. He couldn’t sit here and die, couldn’t leave Keith alone like that.

He moved.

Shiro snapped out of his flashbacks just in time to avoid the weak slice from Keith’s sword. Jumping back, he watched as the younger dragged himself to his feet, left leg clearly too injured to hold his weight. The younger stumbled towards him anyway, making a small pained noise every time the appendage moved. His arms were shaky, black bayard sword moving about. 

Shiro understood that he wasn’t doing it. Sendak must have commanded him to fight Shiro. Something about that made his own head spin. He had been in that situation before, something about a witch whispering into his ear, telling him to get rid of the Red Paladin. 

Shiro leapt backwards again as Keith slashed at him, just cutting into the shoulder port. Throwing his hand up, his mechanical arm caught the blade on its forearm.

“Keith!” Shiro grunted, head still reeling at the sense of having seen this already somewhere, “Fight this! Come on! I know you can.”

“I can’t!” Keith yelled as his sword cut through the air. By now, the chain was yanked tightly, not allowing him any more room to come forward. Keith’s arm slashed out rapidly, trying to reach him but inches away from even touching him.

“This won’t work,” Sendak interrupted them as his arm floated to the two, grabbing at the chain and tugging Keith back. Keith coughed as the collar dug into his neck. A second later, the large arm rubbed over the man’s throat, pressing down on it. The black material broke apart, falling from Keith’s body with a clank.

“Now chop off the Champion’s other arm,” Sendak ordered as Keith began to drag himself towards Shiro, “I want to see him bleed out on this floor.”

“Shiro!” Keith yelled out as Shiro avoided the blade again, “Just go!”

“No, I’m not leaving here without you!” He screamed back, those words floating in his mind in Keith’s voice, in the middle of some type of facility. Purple took over his vision for a second as he gripped his head. Pain burst through it as he cried out. His arm ached like it had electricity coursing through it. 

“Shiro!” Keith shouted again, just as Shiro looked up. The sword was about ready to cut into his face, but Shiro jolted backwards. A second of heavy breathing went by before Keith limped forward, eyes large and wet, “Go.”

“I’m not giving up on you,” Shiro grunted out as he turned a bit, just dodging the blow to his front. Keith swung again and again as Shiro avoided him. He could see Sendak watching them in the background, likely getting a real kick out of all of this. Shiro gritted his teeth before he blocked a stab to his stomach with his arm, “Keith! Please! Fight! This!”

_“Shiro, please,” Keith’s voice boomed in his head as he leaned over him, about to sink the hot blade into his head, “You’re my brother…”_

_He felt nothing at the statement. He knew he was a brother to Keith. It had been stated so many times, from the Garrison days to the trials. They were also brother-in-arms, fighting in this war._

_“I love you!” Keith shouted and Shiro froze. Keith…_

_Keith...loved him? Like...how? Like a brother? Or something more?_

“Keith! I love you too!” Shiro screamed out as Keith froze this time, sword mid-way to his flesh shoulder, “I remember! I love you too.”

For a long moment, Keith seemed glued there, unable to move. A bit of time went by, which had Sendak growling with annoyance.

“Kill him already,” the man commanded.

“Shiro,” Shiro took a step forward, understanding exactly what Keith was communicating to him. The shine in the younger’s eyes hurt as Keith practically begged him to listen. What if it went wrong? What if Keith got more injured? What if-

“Shiro!” Keith yelled out, voice dropping an octave, becoming a growl. It reminded Shiro of the moment before Keith had appeared on the astral plane...his scream of desperation. Now his eyes took on their golden hues and shrinking into dots, glowing as his teeth sharpened into fangs. Shiro listened this time, knowing exactly what was going to happen. Keith let out a scream as he swung the blade right for Shiro’s chest. At the last possible second, Shiro ducked as quickly as he could, dropping like a stone as he watched the black bayard cut through the air. 

Sendak had been stupid enough to let them edge close enough to him during their fight. He had put too much faith in his body-controlling serum. It cost him as the blade arched toward him, a sudden look of shock and rage on his face as the weapon slid through his throat. Blood splashed from the wound, coating Keith’s armor and head with thick liquid as the Galra gasped for air that wouldn’t come. The man stumbled forward, purple face stuck in rage and hatred as Keith began to shake.

“Keith!” Shiro shouted as he jumped to his feet. Rushing to his best friend’s side, he yanked him back just as the much bigger Galra collapsed, falling face first onto the cold ship floor right where the smallest had been seconds before. Blood stained the floor as Keith let out a tiny sob at being moved so quickly. Also collapsing, he fell into Shiro’s arms. Shiro went down with him, making sure that the man didn’t get injured worse. 

“Keith!” Shiro’s heart jumped out of his throat as Keith whimpered, pressing his head to the other’s shoulder, “Talk to me, baby. Come on.”

“I’m...I’m ok’y,” he panted as he rested his hand against Shiro’s arm, “You...you saved me.”

“We saved each other,” Shiro echoed Keith’s words from over a year ago, “Let’s get you to the medical team. They’ll get you back into shape.”

“The tea…”

“Is right here,” someone...James, Shiro noted as he looked up, said from the doorway as the others stood back with smiles and sad gleams in their eyes, “We got all the prisoners out, sir. And the lions are secured.”

“Good work,” he nodded back at the MFE pilot who just nodded back once, glancing at Keith quickly before leaving, placing his helmet back on. Shiro grabbed Keith up, holding him in a bridal hold to avoid touching any area that was bound to be bruised and sore, “Let’s go.”

Keith just nodded, plopping his head onto the older’s shoulder exhaustedly. Shiro was worried about the other. There could be tearing somewhere or bleeding. With the limping, there had to be some serious injury. But at least Keith was away from the immediate danger. 

“Yeah, man,” Lance teased softly as Keith’s dark orbs slowly slid to him, “You look like shit. Let’s get you a doctor.” 

“Thanks,” Keith deadpanned softly before he grunted, “Not gonna repeat that an’time soon.”

“I got you, Keith,” Shiro whispered into the younger’s ear, reassuring him, “You’ll be okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let's pretend that the Altean got really lost in space and didn't arrive until Keith and any other hurt person got healed up. And that the Blade got back and brought healing pods to heal up Keith's hip injury faster...


End file.
